


Chance Encounters

by TideInTheAffairsOfMen



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Hizzie mentioned, posie - Freeform, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 05:21:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19056040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TideInTheAffairsOfMen/pseuds/TideInTheAffairsOfMen
Summary: Slightly AU in that Penelope was actually an unpopular nerd during her time at the Salvatore School for the Young & Gifted and never dated Josie, who was well known in the school alongside her sister Lizzie. Fast forward 4 years and Penelope has completely changed. She started wearing make-up, dressing the way she wanted and got rid of her glasses. Despite living relatively close to Mystic Falls, Penelope still didn't expect to run into her former teenage crush.





	Chance Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been dying to write a Posie fic for ages but I never liked anything I came up with until now which is good timing because we need more Posie content. I hope y'all enjoy and I'm always open to comments so don't be afraid to leave one.
> 
> Also my tumblr is: ATideInTheAffairsOfMen . I haven't been too active as of late but I am trying to change that so shoot me an ask if you want.

It was a regular quiet Wednesday afternoon in the bar for Penelope. A few of the regulars occupied some of the tables and two men had been playing pool for the last hour. Penelope was bored out of her mind but it beats dealing with the drunken messes from the nightclub so she usually always offered to take the early shifts despite her tips being non-existent compared to what her co-workers get off of drunk college students. It also helped that Penelope and the regulars had a good understanding of each other. She wouldn’t question why middle aged men, some of whom were married if the ring on their finger was anything to go by, would spend their afternoons in a dark bar that doesn’t even have sports on tv unless it’s a huge game. In return, her regulars don’t sit at the bar and hopelessly try to flirt with her or bother her in general if it’s not about topping up their beers.

  
“ I’m heading for a bathroom break real quick, don’t die of thirst while I’m gone guys”. Penelope quickly announces which is responded with a few grunts and nods before she ducks out back.

  
On her way back to the bar she grabbed some paperwork from the office, she was going to leave it for her shift tomorrow but with none of her friends replying to her texts she was desperate to do anything to make the time go a little faster before someone else came in to let her go.  
To Penelope’s surprise, a young looking brunette woman was sitting down at the bar, starring down at her phone. She definitely didn’t look like the type that would be in a bar on a Wednesday afternoon.

  
“ Can I get you anything?” Penelope says announcing her presence and setting the paperwork down on the bench.

  
The girl’s head shot up in surprise and Penelope’s eyes widened when she saw her face. She recognised that face. Sitting at her bar was Josie Saltzman. The girl Penelope had secretly crushed on when she was 14. And maybe also when she was 15 and 16.

  
“ Uh a rum and coke please.” Josie said sounding unsure. She must not recognise Penelope or just not letting on.

  
“ Sure thing, you got ID on you?” Penelope asked quirking her eyebrow. She knew Josie would be at least 22 by now but Penelope wanted confirmation that the girl in front of her was who she thought she was.

  
Surely enough Josie handed her a drivers licence. Josette Saltzman. Born March 15th, 2014. And from her address Penelope knew she still lived in Mystic Falls.  
Penelope smiled and handed the license back. “ Well Josette are you sure you want that rum and coke? Because no offence but you don’t sound too sure.”

  
Josie blushed in embarrassment. “ If I’m being honest I’m more of cocktail kind of girl”. Of course she is. “ But this doesn’t seem like the type of place that would serve them and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by acting like a dumb sorority girl who just wants a fruity drink”. Josie said with a giggle. Penelope couldn’t help but think how adorable she is. “ Oh and you can call me Josie, no one really calls me Josette”.

  
“ Josie it is then”. Penelope smiles and leans over the bar towards Josie. “ And you are in luck because while this seems like a dingy bar filled with only beer, whiskey and vodka, it’s also a nightclub so I have everything I need to make a cocktail and it just so happens I’m amazing at cocktails”. Penelope whispers. “ Just don’t let on to my regulars or they’ll think I’ve gone soft”.

  
Josie giggles even more and nods and motions to keeping her lips shut. “ I’ll have whatever you think you do best then”.

  
“ Challenge accepted.” Penelope moves away to grab all her supplies before coming back to Josie. “ So are you a dumb sorority girl?” Penelope asks as she starts making the drink. She always wondered what happened to certain people after she left the Salvatore School and Josie Saltzman was definitely one of them.

  
“ Actually I never went to college. What about you? Do you go to Whitmore?” Josie asked watching Penelope carefully. There was something about her but she couldn’t quite place it.

  
Penelope snorted. “ God no. If I ever did go to college Whitmore would be one of my last choices”.

  
“ Sorry. I just assumed since you’re working in a bar in the town where Whitmore is that you go there”.

  
“ No need to apologise, I’m not offended.” Penelope reassured Josie before handing her the drink. “ And here you go, the Penny special. Not a lot of people have the privilege of trying this drink so count yourself lucky”.

  
“ Penny? That’s a cute name. What’s it short for?” Josie questioned.

  
“ Penelope.” Penelope said kinda hesitantly. She really didn’t want Josie to put two and two together. She would rather not be reminded of her time at Salvatore or get into a conversation about anything supernatural.

  
Josie took a sip of her cocktail and it felt like forever until she finally spoke. “ Well Penelope you make an amazing cocktail”. It took a lot out of Penelope to not let out a huge sigh of relief.

  
“ Glad you think so. So since we’ve established that you are not a dumb sorority girl, how about you tell me what a girl from Mystic Falls is doing two hours from home in a random bar in a college town?” Penelope asked leaning on the bar. “ Your address is on your license.” Penelope said quickly as she noticed Josie’s surprise when she mentioned Mystic Falls.

  
“ Well Miss Detective-“

  
“ I like to think of myself as more of a superhero but go on”. Penelope interrupted

  
Josie shook her head at Penelope’s comment but continued. “ I kinda blew up at my sister and her girlfriend and I wanted to go somewhere they wouldn’t think of looking so I just started driving and ended up here. I was at the diner across the street to grab something to eat and they pointed me to this place when I asked if there was anywhere I could get a drink at this time”.

  
Penelope had to process that information very quickly. Now unless there was a third Saltzman sister that Penelope was not aware of, Josie had just said that Lizzie Saltzman had a girlfriend. During her time at Salvatore there is no way in hell she would have ever considered that boy crazy Lizzie Saltzman was anything but straight.

  
“ So um do you not like the girlfriend or something?” Penelope asked trying her best not to act like she just heard something that would’ve been the gossip of the entire year when she was in school.

  
Josie sighed. “ The complete opposite actually. She’s my best friend”.

  
Penelope couldn’t help but wonder who that was. She doesn’t remember Josie being around anyone other than Lizzie.

  
“ They haven’t been together long so they are currently in that honeymoon phase of being clingy and overly affectionate”. Josie continued.

  
“ And you feel left out because your sister is now dating your best friend”. Penelope finished.

  
Josie nodded before taking a long drink. “ Am I a horrible sister and friend?”

  
Penelope reached out and held Josie’s hand. “ You are not horrible. It’s understandable that it will be an adjustment for you. Just maybe blowing up at them wasn’t the best way to go”.

  
“ I know that now but I had barely slept because they were up all night and when I went out to make breakfast they were making out in the kitchen and I couldn’t hold it in.”  
Penelope scrunched her nose in disgust.

“ Ew they do seem overly affectionate”. That got a laugh out of Josie which was short lived as Josie’s phone started ringing.

  
“ Ugh it’s Hope. I really can’t deal with her or my sister right now”. Josie said as she sent the call to voice mail.

  
In that moment everything clicked in Penelope’s mind and she couldn’t keep it in. 

  
“ LIZZIE SALTZMAN IS DATING HOPE MIKAELSON!”. The bar went quiet and that when Penelope realised that she let out more than she was supposed to know.

  
“ How do you know those names”. Josie asked sternly holding Penelope’s hand tightly.

  
“ We went to high school together”. Penelope admitted.

  
Josie didn’t let go of Penelope. “ I didn’t go to high school so you better have a better explanation or else”.

  
“ Then we went to boarding school together, whatever way you want to define the Salvatore School”. Penelope said quickly knowing Josie was serious.

  
That made Josie loosen her grip on Penelope’s hand. “ You went to Salvatore?”.

  
Penelope pulled back her hand and mumbled a few words under her breath and in seconds Josie’s phone was now floating in front of her. “ We were in the same year actually”.

  
Josie quickly grabbed her phone and forced it down, looking around making sure no one saw. “ You shouldn’t do that”.

  
Penelope rolled her eyes. “ Relax. Even if these men did see that they would explain it away in their heads because they are too afraid to face the truth”.

  
Josie sat quiet for a moment. “ So we went to school together at the same time, you are a witch, and your name is Penelope.... Penelope Park?” Josie asked surprised.

  
“ In the flesh”.

“ Wow, you um got...”

“Contacts”. Penelope

  
“Hot”. Josie.

  
Penelope couldn’t help but blush at what Josie said but tried to play it off with a laugh. “ I guess I did glo-up a bit since we last knew each other”.

  
“ You could say that for sure. You used to dress even more conservatively than me and now..” Josie trailed off as she checked Penelope out. Penelope’s tank top and denim short outfit didn’t leave much to the imagination.

  
“ Now I’m really hoping that liking girls is the one thing you have in common with Lizzie.” Penelope said confidently as she leaned closer to Josie.

  
“ Another round please Penny!” John, one of her regulars shouted from the other side of the bar.

  
Penelope sighed and pulled away from Josie to grab three bottles of beer and bring them to down to the men at the bottom of the bar. “ Horrible timing John”.

  
“ I know but we been waiting ages to get more beer and we figured your flirting wasn’t gonna stop anytime soon”. John said sheepishly.

  
Penelope blushed and gave them three more beers. “ These are on me so long as you wait until Jasmine comes in for her shift to get served again”.

  
“ Deal”. The men say quickly ,as if Penelope was going to retract the offer, and hurried back to their table.

  
When Penelope got back to Josie the brunette was typing away on her phone. “ So where were we”.

  
Josie looked up and smiled, locking her phone so she could give Penelope her full attention. “ Sorry was just letting Hope know that I am safe and not kidnapped, with everything that went down when we were teenagers everyone always assumes the worst when they can’t get in contact with someone”.

  
Penelope chuckled. “ Rightly so. You girls have been through so much shit you could write a book on it”.

  
“ You experienced it as well”. Josie pointed out.

  
Penelope quickly shook her head. “ I was a background character. You guys were the Saltzman Twins and the Tribrid Hope Mikaelson. I’m honestly surprised you even knew my name”.

  
“ We had chemistry of magic together for 4 years. How could I not know your name? The class sizes were exactly huge at a secret supernatural school”.

  
Penelope quirked her eyebrow in surprise that Josie remembered the exact class they shared. “ You didn’t even recognise me until I told you I went to Salvatore”.

  
“ You look completely different!” Josie argued. “ Whereas I look pretty much the same as I’ve always have”.

  
“ You got the pretty part right”. Penelope said smoothly.

  
Josie couldn’t help but giggle and blush. “ Not to mention you definitely weren’t this confident when we were in school. So what’s your story?”.

  
“ What do you mean?” Penelope asked confused.

  
“ Well I’ve realised I’ve did a lot of the talking and opening up and I don’t know a lot about you”. Josie admitted. “ So Penelope Park, why is a girl who doesn’t go to college working in a bar in a college town two hours away from her former supernatural boarding school?”

  
“ Well I was up for living anywhere and I guess I technically did the year after I graduated. My two best friends and I traveled through Europe for a year before deciding we wanted to come back home. The only problem was none of us actually had homes to go to”. Penelope began.

  
Josie reaches out for Penelope’s hand. “ I’m so sorry, I totally forgot about your parents”.

  
Penelope shakes her head. “ Don’t be, they were barely my parents. They were crazy coven leaders but at least they left me their fortune”. Penelope’s parents used to be a sore topic for the raven haired girl when they died when she was 16 but she had long gotten over it.

  
“ So since we had no home to go to we let fate decide. Landon threw a dart at the map of the US and he managed to hit a town two hours away from where we all met. I made a strong argument that we should just go to LA but M.G was adamant that we couldn’t mess with destiny and here we are”. Penelope finished.

  
“ Isn’t M.G the kid that had a huge crush on Lizzie?” Josie asked remembering the name.

  
“ Yea we bonded over our shared issue”. Penelope stated.

  
“ Which was?” Josie questioned.

  
“ We both had crushes on a Saltzman twin”. Penelope admitted.

  
Josie was so shocked at what Penelope had said that she began choking on air. “ So if you have a bunch of money and two great friends why are you working in this bar in the middle of the afternoon instead of enjoying yourself?” Josie asked changing the subject.

  
“ It’s just easier to work the quiet shifts myself than have to pay someone to do it.” Penelope explained.

  
“ Wait a minute... Do you own this bar?” Josie asked in shock.

  
Penelope laughed at Josie’s surprise. “ Yea can you not tell by the name? P.G stands for Park.Greasley. We opened this place as soon as we turned 21”.

  
“ Then what did you do before you turned 21?”.

  
“ Remember that diner across the street? I always wanted an American style diner that also did food from around the world and it just so happens that Landon is an amazing cook”.

  
That now made a lot of sense to Josie, considering the diner was called Kirby’s. Josie smiled. “ I’m really glad everything has worked out for you Penelope Park”.

  
Penelope leaned closer to Josie. “ Well not everything. I’m still tragically single and looking for the perfect girl”.

  
“ I think I might actually be able to help you with that”. Josie said before leaning in to close the gap between her and Penelope. Josie was maybe centimetres away from Penelope’s lips before she heard the door of the bar slam open, causing Penelope to immediately pull back.

  
A girl with long black hair came running in, wearing a polo that said PG’s. “ Sorry, I know I’m late”.

  
Penelope hadn’t even noticed the time and apparently Jasmine was 30 minutes late for her shift. “ It’s all good but for punishment I’m gonna need you to break the news to M.G when he comes in later that he needs to cover my shift tomorrow”. Penelope says as she gathers her stuff and walks to the other side of the bar.

  
“ And what reason am I giving him so that he doesn’t shoot the messenger?”.

  
Penelope looked at Josie and smirked. “ Tell him that I’ll be too busy in Mystic Falls in Josie Saltzman’s bed. Trust me he will understand”.

  
Penelope intertwined her fingers with Josie’s and led her out of the bar. “ So how about we give Lizzie and Hope a taste of their own medicine”.


End file.
